81R3980 BEF-F
By: Rios Ybarra H.B. No. 656
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the use of municipal hotel occupancy taxes for
ecological tourism events.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 351.101(a), Tax Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(a) Revenue from the municipal hotel occupancy tax may be
used only to promote tourism and the convention and hotel industry,
and that use is limited to the following:
(1) the acquisition of sites for and the construction,
improvement, enlarging, equipping, repairing, operation, and
maintenance of convention center facilities or visitor information
centers, or both;
(2) the furnishing of facilities, personnel, and
materials for the registration of convention delegates or
registrants;
(3) advertising and conducting solicitations and
promotional programs to attract tourists and convention delegates
or registrants to the municipality or its vicinity;
(4) the encouragement, promotion, improvement, and
application of the arts, including instrumental and vocal music,
dance, drama, folk art, creative writing, architecture, design and
allied fields, painting, sculpture, photography, graphic and craft
arts, motion pictures, radio, television, tape and sound recording,
and other arts related to the presentation, performance, execution,
and exhibition of these major art forms;
(5) historical restoration and preservation projects
or activities or advertising and conducting solicitations and
promotional programs to encourage tourists and convention
delegates to visit preserved historic sites or museums:
(A) at or in the immediate vicinity of convention
center facilities or visitor information centers; or
(B) located elsewhere in the municipality or its
vicinity that would be frequented by tourists and convention
delegates;
(6) for a municipality located in a county with a
population of one million or less, expenses, including promotion
expenses, directly related to a sporting event in which the
majority of participants are tourists who substantially increase
economic activity at hotels and motels within the municipality or
its vicinity; [and]
(7) subject to Section 351.1076, the promotion of
tourism by the enhancement and upgrading of existing sports
facilities or fields, including facilities or fields for baseball,
softball, soccer, and flag football, if:
(A) the municipality owns the facilities or
fields;
(B) the municipality:
(i) has a population of 80,000 or more and
is located in a county that has a population of 350,000 or less;
(ii) has a population of at least 65,000 but
not more than 70,000 and is located in a county that has a
population of 155,000 or less; or
(iii) has a population of at least 34,000
but not more than 36,000 and is located in a county that has a
population of 90,000 or less; and
(C) the sports facilities and fields have been
used, in the preceding calendar year, a combined total of more than
10 times for district, state, regional, or national sports
tournaments; and
(8) promotional and event expenses for an ecological
tourism event, including an event for which the primary attraction
is traveling to an area of natural or ecological interest for the
purpose of observing and learning about wildlife and the area's
natural environment, if:
(A) a majority of the event's participants are
tourists; and
(B) the event substantially increases economic
activity at hotels and motels within or in the vicinity of the
municipality.
SECTION 2. Section 351.103, Tax Code, is amended by adding
Subsection (f) to read as follows:
(f) Not more than 15 percent of the hotel occupancy tax
revenue collected by a municipality, or the amount of tax received
by the municipality at the rate of one percent of the cost of a room,
whichever is greater, may be used for the purpose provided by
Section 351.101(a)(8).
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2009.